England’s men’s team could make a landmark visit to Nepal during the 2027-31 Future Tours Programme cycle, with the England and Wales Cricket Board exploring the possibility of a short T20I tour as Nepal’s rapid cricket growth continues attracting wider international attention, according to a report by ESPNcricinfo’s Matt Roller.
The prospect of England travelling to Kathmandu comes after Nepal’s dramatic rise in white-ball cricket over the past two years, with the associate nation increasingly positioning itself as one of the sport’s fastest-growing emerging markets. Nepal secured a bilateral series win over West Indies in the UAE last year and further raised its profile during the T20 World Cup earlier this year.
Their clash against England at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium in February became one of the tournament’s most memorable group-stage matches.
According to ESPNcricinfo, former Nepal Captain and current Cricket Association of Nepal Secretary Paras Khadka later met ECB officials in India following that fixture as discussions around Nepal’s future international opportunities continued.
Nepal pushes for more matches against major nations
Nepal Captain Rohit Paudel later told reporters that fixtures against leading cricket nations could significantly accelerate the country’s development and global visibility.
The ECB is understood to be assessing scheduling possibilities that could allow England to add a short Nepal tour before another white-ball assignment elsewhere in Asia, potentially limiting the additional workload to only a few extra days within an already crowded calendar.
Those discussions are taking place while international boards continue negotiating the structure of the 2027-31 FTP cycle alongside unresolved ICC decisions surrounding the future World Test Championship format and scheduling requirements.
International partnerships strengthen Nepal’s cricket ambitions
Nepal’s growing international profile has also encouraged closer collaboration with Full Member nations beyond England.
Earlier this year, Cricket Ireland signed a five-year strategic partnership agreement with the Cricket Association of Nepal, with future white-ball tours and development cooperation expected to form part of the arrangement.
“I’ve had this on the table for discussion with various stakeholders for quite some time. It’s something that I’m very passionate about and that I fundamentally believe in. The conversations have now developed and evolved to a point that I’m much more confident that it is going to happen… Multiple stakeholders will be part of that in due course, but I would anticipate that it will kick off in the summer of ’27, and the precise format and detail of it will be announced in due course – I would expect in the next couple of months,” Cricket Ireland Chairman Brian MacNeice told reporters while launching Ireland’s home international fixtures for 2026 in March.
Nepal’s cricket expansion was also spotlighted this week when Sky Sports aired the documentary Nepal: Climbing Cricket’s Mountain, focusing on the country’s growing cricket culture and international ambitions.
Speaking in the documentary, Khadka emphasised the importance of Nepal regularly facing stronger opposition.
“What Nepal cricket needs right now is exposure. Because we’re an ODI country, we want matches against Test-playing nations because the only way you improve as a cricketer is when you play against better cricketers, when you play against better opponents. That’s when you learn the game.”
He also described cricket’s wider social impact across Nepal.
“What that will do is that will ignite this whole generation of kids back home, because cricket is now in the hearts of a young Nepali. Cricket is not just a sport. It’s the most uniting factor [in the country].”
While the ECB has not yet finalised any Nepal fixtures, the discussions reflect Nepal’s growing visibility within global cricket as leading boards increasingly evaluate opportunities beyond the sport’s traditional markets.
